The neural mechanisms of an induced shift in in time perception through coaching in a young male workforce population

The centrality of time is implicitly recognized in coaching practice because time-related issues are often raised in coaching conversations. Psychological studies have found that humans tend to develop a cognitive temporal bias toward being past, present, or future oriented – which is referred to as time perspective (TP) – when making decisions. Empirical evidence in neuroscience has also revealed that humans’ subjective perception of time involves the role of mental time travel (MTT) ability and embodiment of time (ET) to construct the passage of an imaginary mental time line (MTL) across the past, present, and future. Nevertheless, there is a lack of empirical evidence examining the role of coaching to induce a TP shift by altering the embodied position of MTL using coachees’ MTT ability. There is also hardly any study that elucidates the neural mechanisms underlying the shift of time perception in humans.

A critical literature review of 161 relevant publications revealed that the aforementioned constructs of subjective time perception seemed to play an inevitable role in various aspects of the coaching process. Thus, it is argued that an induced time perception shift, with special regard to a temporal perspective, is a promising solution toward better human functioning in various aspects of life as the result of time-related coaching intervention.

A small-scale pilot study voluntarily recruited 6 male managers, aged between 25 and 35 years old, to go through an exploratory quasi-experimental research experience using a within-subject design consisting of 2 sessions of coaching for 50–60 minutes each. The first session involved no attempt to induce a time perception shift while, in the second session, the coaching was designed to induce such a shift. To examine the extent of the time perception shift, a short version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI) was used for pre- and post-assessments. This preliminary study has demonstrated the value of the S-ZTPI questionnaire as a pre- and post-treatment measure; the protocol of the Clarity, Awakening, Resolution, and Empowerment (CARE) Model in each chapter as a replicable standard approach to coaching, with or without the time perception shift element; the procedure of processing electroencephalogram (EEG) signals recorded during coaching sessions; and the quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) method to transform the EEG data into relevant brain topography.

In the main applied research, a within-subject qEEG study was conducted involving male professional workers (n=30, age=25–35) representing various TP tendencies. They were voluntarily recruited from a commercial organization and assigned randomly to receive two consecutive coaching sessions as in the pilot study. The result found that coaching designed to facilitate a shift in the MTL attachment was associated with an increase in past positive (PP) score (p=0.0003). The PP increase was found in the past negative (n=6; p=0.0170), present fatalistic (n=6; p=0408), future (n=6; p=0.0197) TP groups, with a TP tendency shift toward PP was observed in the PN and PF groups. The qEEG analysis demonstrated that the increase in PP was positively correlated with induced fronto-centro-parietal activation – particularly in the frontal alpha (r=0.706; p=0.017) and fronto-parietal delta (r=0.612; p=0.049) – in the period of MTL decision-making process during coaching.

The main study also showed that participants who shifted their MTL position demonstrated a greater left frontal activation associated with approach-oriented goal pursuit and emotions. Using the thematic analysis method, a case study of four participants representing different MTL groups showed an increased prevalence of positive valence in the coachees’ narrative after MTL decision-making, indicating that a voluntary MTL choice may be associated with more positive affects regardless of any MTL shift presence and emotional direction. Different patterns of goal pursuit narratives between shifted and unshifted MTL participants indicate that a complex interplay between approach-avoidance direction and autonomy-obligation motive of goals may moderate an individual’s decision-making of MTL position during coaching.

These empirical findings then suggest that providing an opportunity to voluntary shift the embodied MTL position through coaching may serve as an effective intervention to induce a time perception shift toward a more balanced TP and better well-being. It proposes that MTL attachment serves as the ET dimension of the PP subscale and the fronto-centro-parietal network as the neural correlates of MTL shift. It also argues that the possible EEG signatures of PP are frontal alpha for individuals with attached MTL and fronto-parietal delta for those with detached MTL. By elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying induced time perception shift during coaching, the study provides qEEG evidence in supporting evidence-based coaching and in creating a bridge between neuroscience and psychology in the study of coaching and subjective time.